The Dunk was first introduced by Nike, Inc. in 1985. As the Nike Terminator’s "fraternal twin", originally having numerous colors in most sizes (Hi-Top or Low-Top) for various Universities and Colleges. Since its reintroduction in 1998, the Dunk has transformed from a basic basketball shoe into a subcultural icon and an inspiration for fashion, culture, and art.
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Nike Dunk, a pair of good basketball shoes, with “simple design, and low-tech”, but Nike Company think it is definitely a pair of cross-century shoes. According to technical content, Nike Dunks shoes which without Air Cushion are always considered the original styles. However, the correct order is Air Force 1 - first Air Cushion shoe, used by Nike to defeat their rival Converse so that the company can triumph in the market and the stock has been rising in 1983. Two years latter, Nike is facing the worst sales crisis for adisas coming back. In order to turn that into an asset, Nike made a big decision: they make heavy investment to invite Michael Jordan to be advertising endorser which affect the whole world. And then, Nike using Air Force 1 as original prototype designed the first pair of signature shoes Air Jordan One to Michael Jordan. Soon all of the top school teams are strongly urged to have their own team shoe, which is why there was Dunk. The Nike Dunks has a lower profile outer sole than its parent shoes. The intent was a lighter weight and staying closer to the ground. In addition, the paneling was revised to improve basketball game performance during pivoting and blocking. The Dunk was used to spearhead what Nike called the ’College Colors’ program. They signed some college basketball teams (and their coaches) to an exclusive Dunk sponsorship deal; in simple terms, the deal meant that each colored pair of Dunks matched their uniforms.
In 1998, Nike began production of the Dunk once again. Initial releases were classic university colors, but new non-team colors were soon introduced. At this time, Nike often released the same dunk in two different versions consisting of reversed colors. The dunks released from 1998 to 2000 featured a nylon tongue and arch supports, distinguishing them from today's dunk releases. Overall, the reintroduction of the dunk proved to be extremely successful and production numbers have since increased to meet growing demand.
Nike's basketball shoe line was fairly popular in the skateboarding scene, and the Dunk soon became a popular shoe for skaters due to the stability and lower profile sole which improved grounding performance. In 2002, Nike created a Dunk specifically for skateboarders, known as the Nike Dunk SB. It features an extra-padded "puffy tongue" (common among skateboarding sneakers) and Nike's patented Zoom Air insole. Since then, the SB Dunk has become a popular icon for enthusiastic sneaker-collectors, and has hit the streetwear fashion scene. Nike currently collaborates with many designers to create special edition and collectible Dunks. The popularitiy of these dunks has grown so wide that it has prompted Nike to create many other kinds of shoes specifically for skateboarding such as Paul Rodriguez's, Tre's, Blazer's, and Team Editions to name a few. These shoes mimic the colorways and limited quantities of that of Nike Dunk SBs, which increases their value and appeal.